It's Lonely at the Top
by undergoing malfunction
Summary: Two friends climb impossible heights for the most incredible treasure they have ever known. But K'nuckles' thirsty greed may cost him something much bigger than all the candy in the world. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. You guys know that, eh?**

**To be honest, I wrote mostly to help myself get back on the saddle. And STUFF. **

**So read on, readers. **

**Read on.**

**---**

The only way was to climb.

Young Flapjack stared in awe at the incredibly tall mountain standing before him. His best friend and mentor, "Captain" K'nuckles, stood next to him, a worried and unbelieving expression on his face as he too stared at the monster of a mountain. In his mind he was terrified, but he wouldn't let it show except for a subtle shiver.

"Holy Toledo!" Said Flapjack, running closer to the mountain. K'nuckles was glued to where he stood. "Is this really where the treasure is at, Captain?"

Treasure. Right. Remember the treasure, the loads and loads of treasure, K'nuckles thought. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an ancient-looking treasure map. The red trail on the map lead through woods, towns, and dangerous pits filled with creatures made to kill. K'nuckles and Flapjack endured all of it together, traveling to the incredible DelightfulBeard's Candy Treasure.

The two friends came across the map while swimming at the Stormalong docks. It was a hot Summer day, and Flapjack was yearning to play with K'nuckles in the water.

_-_

_"Come on, K'nuckles, the water's great!" _

_The captain laid back on the docks, gulping his second bottle of syrup. Ignoring Flapjack._

_The boy frowned sadly while sitting in the water. K'nuckles didn't want to play._

_"Come on, captain.. it is no fun playing in the water without you."_

_"I am not going to play your stupid water-games, Flapjack. People won't respect me as a captain if I do. Now stay quiet, I'm busy."_

_Now Flapjack started to tear up. His day was ruined because his best friend was ignoring him and wouldn't play water games with him. He dipped himself in the water to hide his tears._

_"K'nuckles, stop being a lazy old fool and play with Flapjack! All he wants to do is splash around in some water with you, and you won't even give him that," demanded Bubbie. Bubbie was Flapjack's adopted mother and home. She took care of him and fed him and loved him with all her heart. The only reason she let K'nuckles, who she called a "bum", "fool", or "ass" (when Flapjack wasn't around) on a daily basis, live inside her with Flapjack, was because it meant so much to her sweet little bundle of joy. The only thing the citizens of Stormalong found odd about her being Flapjack's mother was the fact that she was not a human. She was a whale._

_But no matter what the people thought about Bubbie, Flapjack still loved her very much and never hesitated to call her Mother._

_"I told you I ain't playing water games, whale!" K'nuckles was now shouting. Flapjack hated when Bubbie and K'nuckles shouted at each other._

_"You never change, you old bum! You refused to play kick ball last week with Flapjack, then it was jacks, and then suddenly you are far too busy to walk him home from school when it's raining! And, you spent all of his new bike money on MAPLE SYRUP! You're just an old drunk, you son of a..."_

_Flapjack sunk himself under the water, trying to escape the conflict between K'nuckles and Bubbie. He sunk deeper and deeper until their voices were just faint, blurred noises. But he wanted to go deeper, until their voices were completely gone. Until they were gone._

_Deeper and deeper he went, until his surrounding became increasingly darker. He couldn't see the surface of the water anymore, and he couldn't hear his friend's voices either. That was good. Now, if he could just hold his breath for a bit longer..._

_But wait.. what was this? Flapjack's kicking legs hit something in front of him, but he couldn't see what it was. He reached out in front of him in the dark water, but he still couldn't find it. He reached further. It was a wooden box, floating around in the water while tied to one of the dock's wooden beams. Was it full of treasure, Flapjack wondered. He was excited to find out._

_Flapjack floated to the beam and tried to untie the rope that was connected to the strange box as fast as he could. It was an extremely tight knot, but he finally was able to untie it. He held the mysterious box in his arms and smiled. Wait until K'nuckles and Bubbie saw this!_

_The thought excited him even more as he swam to the surface to show his friends what he found._

-

The captain squinted at the map, trying to remember his reading lessons. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the place," he said, his voice dropping a little. Why did the mountain have to be so tall? Or a mountain at all?

Neverless, Flapjack was still ecstatic. "This'll be easy!" He shouted to K'nuckles, already beginning his climb. "Come on, K'nuckles! Do I have to carry you up here myself? The candy treasure is so close!" He gave him a thumbs up, with the biggest smile in the world on his face.

"Yeah, so close.." K'nuckles repeated to himself in whispered tone. Hesitant, the old man slowly started up the mountain, one wooden foot at a time. Slipping a few times, he sat and rested on a large rock five feet off the ground. You've got to be kidding me, he thought to himself, staring above him at the magnificent height of the mountain. It would mean instant death if he were to fall. The candy. Remember the candy. He began to climb once again.

-

Three days passed, and the boys were running out of water.

K'nuckles looked above as he sat with his tuckered out apprentice. The winds seemed stronger and faster today. But after three days of climbing and scarce food, the top of the mountain was finally in view. K'nuckles' mouth watered at the thought of the bucketloads of candy. Treasure chests full of it, piled on top of each other. It was anough motivation for him to stand up and prepare to climb once again. Flapjack stared at him drearily.

"Can't we rest for a little while longer..? My tummy really hurts, Captain.." The boy rubbed his empty belly, trying not to picture a balogna sandwich sitting next to him.

"Flapjack, we are almost there! We can't stop now," K'nuckles retorted, already climbing five feet above where Flapjack sat. "What happened to your fighting spirit, hm?"

"That was three days ago! And we had food and water and motivation then!"

"Well I'M still motivated by the motherload of candy we have been traveling so far for! If you're not going to do a little bit more climbing for DelightfulBeard's untouched candy treasure, then more for me!" And he continued his climb.

Flapjack sighed. He forced his wobbling body to stand up, then joined Captain K'nuckles in his climb. Not only was his head spinning from hunger, but also from guilt. The Captain was right. All he was doing was sitting around complaining. K'nuckles was a great adventurer, surely he must have endured climbing mountains twice as high as this one, and gone much longer without food! If K'nuckles could do that, he could do this.

He would not let K'nuckles down.

-

_The thought excited him even more as he swam to the surface to show his friends what he found._

_Bubbie and K'nuckles were still arguing when he came up from the water, but it was about something completely different than playing games with Flapjack. Thrilled, he climbed to the dock and embraced his drunken friend. "!"_

_The two suddenly became quiet. "What is it, boy?" K'nuckles asked, shoving him off of his body. Flapjack pulled himself together and held out the mossy box. _

_"What is that, baby?" Bubbie asked, leaning in on them both to take a closer look. Her eyes squinted from the foul smell coming from the old box._

_"I found it tied to the docks beam underwater! What do you think it is? Do you think it is full of candy? I bet it there's something really cool inside!"_

_"Well, you're not gonna find out what is inside it just by guessing!" Said K'nuckles, snatching the box. He examined all four sides, the corners - Flapjack watched in amazement at K'nuckles' skill. Finally, K'nuckles simply stared at the grimey box, then dropped it directly on the ground in front of him. The fragile wood split and the box opened. Flapjack beamed._

_"That was amazing, K'nuckles..!" Flapjack whispered._

_"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now look inside the box, Flap."_

_Flapjack scooted toward K'nuckles' feet, reaching inside the box. Out he pulled an old yellow piece of paper, and read aloud the large black print, "Map to DelightfulBeard's Incredible Candy Treasure". K'nuckles' and Bubbie's eyes widened in shock._

_"Candy treasure?" Questioned Bubbie._

_"Candy treasure!?" K'nuckles exclaimed._

_"Candy treasure!" Flapjack assured, continuing to read the print. "Whoever follows this map to the Mountain of Edacity will be forever rich with my greatest treasure of candy, found from Candied Island itself. Signed, Captain DelightfulBeard."_

_"Rich with candy forever!" K'nuckles shouted with joy. He skipped and frollicked at just the thought. Flapjack giggled and smiled and joined his friend in dance, paying no attention to Bubbie's skeptical facial expression._

_"Hey Capt'n, y'know what the best part is?"_

-

K'nuckles was beginning to feel the strength of the winds sway his body back and forth. But he held on to the rocks tighter and continued his way up the mountain, the top of the mountain in sight. K'nuckles began climbing in a faster pace, more and more anxious to get to the top. Soon, laughter escaped his lungs along with a large smile on his face. He was thirsty, starving and half asleep. It seemed like a dream that after two months of traveling this adventure was finally coming to and end, and the reward was nearly in arm's reach.

His shakey wodden arm felt with relief the long anticipated mountain top. The winds were finally beginning to settle, as if they realized that their battle had been lost. With one final push - K'nuckles savored this moment - he climbed over the edge of the mountain, staring at the orange sky as he laid on his back in exhaustion. We made it, he gasped. We finally made it to the treasure!

K'nuckles managed to stand himself up carefully. His face was bright and excited as he turned around to view the incredible candy treasure he and Flapjack had been promised since the day the map was found.

The old captain could feel the sun set lower and lower behind him. His face showed no expression, he was not capable of forming one. K'nuckles forced his stiff body to walk slowly toward the Mountain of Edacity's edge, staring downward. He waited in that spot, simply staring and looking down the side of the mountain.

-

_"Hey Capt'n, y'know what the best part is?"_

_"What?" Knuckles asked._

_Flapjack clasped his hands together and blushed happily. "I get to go on this incredible adventure with my best friend in the whole wide world!"_

_-_

K'nuckles waited for hours for his best friend to come up and join him on the completely empty mountain top.

But he never did.


End file.
